But that freedom is the freedom to OBEY, not disobey. The freedom to, and liberty to, delight in the law of God and in a life acceptable to God, against which there is no law. Beware of stopping short of abandonment to God. Most of us know abandonment in vision only. The consequence of abandonment never enters into our outlook because our life is taken up with Him. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because at a point away back, I yielded to myself. Yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust remember what lust is: There is no release in human power at all but only in the Redemption.
You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One Who can break the dominating power viz. Yielding to Jesus will break every form of slavery in any human life. One carnal judgment, and the end of it is hell in you. The penalty of sin is confirmation in sin. It is not only God who punishes [or chastises] for sin; sin confirms itself in the sinner and gives back full pay.
No struggling nor praying will enable you to stop doing some things, and the penalty of sin is that gradually you get used to it and do not know that it is sin. No power save the incoming of the Holy Ghost can alter the inherent consequences of sin. The deadliest Pharisaism today is not hypocrisy but unconscious unreality.
It is not lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but lack of laboring to keep the ideal right. Once a week at least take stock before God and see whether you are keeping your life up to the standard He wishes. Paul is like a musician who does not heed the approval of the audience if he can catch the look of approval from the Master. Learn to discern where the ambition leads, and you will see why it is so necessary to live facing the Lord Jesus Christ.
My worth to God in public is what I am in private. Is my master ambition to please Him and be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how noble? For instance, am I realizing that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, or have I a habit of body that plainly will not bear the light of God on it?
By sanctification the Son of God is formed in me, then I have to transform my natural life. When He begins to check, do not confer with flesh and blood, cleanse yourself at once. Keep yourself cleased in your daily walk. This involves repenting before the Lord unto our very death. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I insubordinate in intellect?
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Am I perfecting this type of holiness in the fear of God? I fear so many completely overlook and ignore this essential part of Christianity to even be performed by the new man in us, which means ignoring and rejecting 2 Cor. Are other people beginning to see God in my life more and more? This the flesh does not want to do. This the flesh indeed cannot do! LOVE is the fulfilling of the law, so without love the law cannot be fulfilled! Try to keep the law without love and you will fail. It is a fruitless endeavor. All this is eternal truth.
In fact, without love his meditation would have turned into sin. The testimony of Scripture is that all men are vile and polluted; that they are, root and branch, source and stream, heart and life, not only disobedient, but unholy, and therefore unfit for God's presence. The Lord Jesus who knew what was in man, makes this clear enough when, revealing with His own light that loathsome den, the human heart, He says, "Out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: Nor must we forget that the confession of saints concerning themselves has always corresponded to God's testimony.
David says, "Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" Psalm Job declared, "Behold I am vile; I abhor myself. But the most remarkable confession of this absolute vileness is contained in an acknowledgment by the Old Testament church — a sentence which has been taken up by all believers as exactly expressing what they all have to say of their condition by nature: Strong language indeed is that, yet not one whit too strong to depict the mud and mire into which the Fall has brought us.
What Is Holiness II
If, then, when considering the doctrine of justification we found it appropriate — in view of man's self-will, lawlessness, and disobedience — to ask, "How shall a man be just with God? We have no more power to make ourselves holy than we have to unmake or unbeing ourselves; we are no more able to cleanse our hearts, than we are to command or direct the winds. Sin in dominion is the "plague" of the heart 1 Kings 8: Then may you also do good that are accustomed to do evil" Jeremiah The proud cannot make himself humble; the carnal cannot force himself to become spiritual; the earthly man can no more transform himself into a heavenly man than he can make the sun go backward or the earth fly upward.
Sanctification is a work altogether above the powers of human nature: Even among those preachers who desire to be regarded as orthodox, who do not deny the Fall as a historical fact, few among them perceive the dire effects and extent thereof. Through the breach of the first covenant all men have lost the image of God, and now bear the image of the Devil John 8: The whole of their faculties are so depraved that they can neither think 2 Corinthians 3: They are by birth, altogether unholy, unclean, loathsome and abominable in nature, heart, and life; and it is altogether beyond their power to change themselves.
Not only so, but the curse of the law lying upon them has severed all spiritual relation between God and them, cutting off all communion and communication with Heaven. The driving from the Garden of Eden of our first parents and the establishment of the cherubim with the flaming sword at its entrance, denoted that in point of justice they were barred from all sanctifying influences reaching them — that being the greatest benefit man is capable of, as assimilating him to God Himself or rendering him like Him. The curse has fixed a gulf between God and fallen creatures, so that sanctifying influences cannot pass from Him unto them, any more than their unholy desires and prayers can pass unto Him.
It is written, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord" Proverbs And again, "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord" v. It has, then, been rightly said that our sanctification "is no less a mystery than our justification" T. As the depravity of human nature has always been so manifest that it could not escape notice even in the world, so in all ages men have, been seeking to discover a remedy for the same, and have supposed a cure could be achieved by a right use of their rational, faculties.
But the outcome has always been, at best, but an outward show and semblance of sanctification, going under the tame of "moral virtue. Until men are regenerate and act from a principle of grace in the heart, all their actions are but imitations of real obedience and piety, as an ape would mimic a man. It is a common error of those that are unregenerate to seek to reform their conduct without any realization that their state must be changed before their lives can possibly be changed from sin to righteousness.
The tree itself must be made good, before its fruit can possibly be good. As well attempt to make a watch go, whose mainspring is broken, by washing its face and polishing its back, as for one under the curse of God to produce any works acceptable to Him. That was the great mistake Nicodemus labored under: Multitudes have labored with great earnestness to subdue their evil propensities, and have struggled long and hard to bring their inward thoughts and affections into conformity with the law of God.
They have sought to abstain from all sins, and to perform every known duty. They have been so devout and intent that they have undermined their health, and were so fervent in their zeal that they were ready to kill their bodies with fastings and mascerations, if only they might kill their sinful lusts. They were strongly convinced that holiness was absolutely necessary unto salvation, and were so deeply affected with the terrors of damnation, as to forsake the world and shut themselves up in convents and monasteries; yet all the while ignorant of the mystery of sanctification — that a new state must precede a new life.
It is positively asserted by Divine inspiration that, "They that are in the flesh cannot please God" Romans 8: Alas, how few understand the meaning of those words "in the flesh;" how many suppose they only signify, to be inordinately addicted to the baser passions. Whereas, to be "in the flesh" is to be in a state of nature — fallen, depraved, alienated from the life of God. To be "in the flesh" is not simply being a personal transgressor of God's holy law, but is the cause of all sinfulness and sinning.
The "flesh" is the very nature of man as corrupted by the fall of Adam, and propagated from him to us in that corrupt state by natural generation. To be "in the flesh" is also being in complete subjection to the power of the Devil, who is the certain conqueror of all who attempt to fight him in their own strength or with his own weapons. The flesh can no more he brought to holiness by man's most vehement endeavors, than he can bring a dead carcass to life by chafing and rubbing it.
The varied elements which entered into the problem of Justification were: God's law requires from us perfect obedience to its statutes; this we have utterly failed to render; we are therefore under the condemnation and curse of the law; the Judge Himself is inflexibly just, and will by no means clear the guilty: The elements which enter into the problem of Sanctification are: God Himself is ineffably pure, how then can a moral leper be admitted into His presence?
We are utterly without holiness, and can no more make ourselves holy than the Ethiopian can change his skin. Even though a holy nature be imparted by regeneration, how can one with the flesh, unchanged, within him, draw near as a worshiper unto the Heavenly Sanctuary? How can I as a person possibly profess myself as holy, while conscious that I am full of sin? How can I honestly profess to have a "pure heart," while realizing a sea of corruption still rages within me?
If my state must be changed before anything in my life is acceptable to God, what I possibly do? If I know that polluted and vile, and utterly unsuited unto the thrice holy how much less can He regard me as fit for His presence? In connection with the grand truth of sanctification there is both a mystery and a problem: That which is hidden from the understanding of the natural man is, why his best performances are unacceptable unto God, no matter how earnestly and devoutly they be done.
Even though he be informed that the tree must be made good if its fruit is to be wholesome, in other words, that his very state and nature must first be made acceptable unto God before any of his works can be so, he has not the remotest idea of how this is to be accomplished. But that which perplexes the spiritual man is, how one who is still full of sin may justly regard his state and nature as being acceptable unto God, and how one who is a mass of corruption within can honestly claim to be holy.
As the Lord is pleased to enable we will consider each in turn. The natural man is quite ignorant of the mystery of sanctification. Though he may — under the spur of conscience, the fear of Hell, or from desire to go to Heaven — be very diligent in seeking to conquer the activities of indwelling sin and exceedingly zealous in performing every known duty, yet he is quite in the dark as to why his state must be changed before his actions ran be acceptable unto God.
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That upon which he is unenlightened is, that it is not the matter which makes a work good and pleasing to God, but the principles from which that work proceeds. It is true that the conscience of the natural man distinguishes between good and evil, and religious instruction may educate him to do much which is right and avoid much that is wrong; nevertheless, his actions are not done out of gratitude and in a spirit of loving obedience, but out of fear and from a servile spirit; and therefore are they like fruit ripened by are and forced in the hothouse, rather than normally by the genial rays of the sun.
Nothing less than this will meet the Divine requirements. Only those actions are pleasing to God which have respect unto His commandment, which proceed from gratitude unto Him for His goodness, and where faith has respect unto His promised acceptance and blessing. No works are approved of Heaven except they possess these qualities. A sense of duty must sway the conscience, unselfish affection must move the heart, and faith in exercise must direct the actions. Hence, should I be asked why I do thus and so? And if it be further inquired, And why such earnestness and affection?
Obedience respects God's authority; love, His kindness; faith, His bounty or reward. This must be our design — the glory of God — if our actions are to meet with His approval. Whether it be the discharge of our temporal duties, the performing of deeds of charity and kindness, or acts of piety and devotion, they must be executed with this aim: The natural man, when in sore straits, will cry fervently unto God, but it is only that his wants be supplied.
Many will contribute liberally of their means to the relief of sufferers, but it is to be seen of men" Matthew 6: People are religious on the Sabbath and attend public worship, but it is either to satisfy an uneasy conscience or in the hope of earning Heaven thereby. From what has been said above it should be clear that the best deeds of the unregenerate fall far short of the Divine requirements. The actions of the natural man cannot receive the approbation of Heaven, because God is neither the beginning nor the end of them: Instead, they issue from the workings of corrupt self, and they have in view only the advancement of self.
Nor can it be otherwise. Water will not rise above its own level, or flow uphill. A pure stream cannot issue from an impure fountain. The man himself must be sanctified, before his actions are purified. But how shall men be sanctified so as to be suited unto the presence of an infinitely pure God? By nature they are utterly without holiness: We could tame a tiger from the jungle far more easily than we could our lusts.
We might empty the ocean more quickly than we could banish pride from our souls. We might melt marble more readily than our hard hearts. We might purge the sea of salt more easily than we could our beings of sin. Why "when we were in our best condition by nature, when we were in the state of original holiness, when we were in Adam vested with the image of God, we preserved it not. How much less likely then, is it, that now, in the state of lapsed and depraved nature, it is in our power to restore ourselves, to reintroduce the image of God into our souls, and that in a far more eminent manner than it was at first created by God?
What needed all that contrivance of infinite wisdom and grace for the reparation of our nature by Jesus Christ, if holiness, wherein it does consist, be in our power, and educed out of the natural faculties of our souls? There can be no more fond imagination befall the minds of men, than that defiled nature is able to cleanse itself, or depraved nature to rectify itself, or we, who have lost that image of God which He created in us, and with us, should create it again in ourselves by our own endeavors" John Owen.
Yet, let it be pointed out that this impotency to measure up to the requirements of God is no mere innocent infirmity, but a highly culpable thing, which greatly aggravates our vileness and adds to our guilt. Our inability to measure up to the standard of personal piety which God has appointed, lies not in a lack of executive power or the needful faculties, but in the want of a willing mind and a ready heart to practice true holiness. If men in a natural state had a hearty love and liking to true holiness, and a fervent and sincere endeavor to practice it, and yet failed in the event, then they might under some pretense plead for this excuse as many do , that they are compelled to sin by an inevitable necessity.
But the fact is that man's impotency lies in his own obstinacy — "You will not come to Me" John 5: Inability to pay a debt does not excuse a debtor who has recklessly squandered his estate; nor does drunkenness excuse the mad or violent actions of a drunkard, but rather aggravates his crime. God has not lost His right to command, even though man through his wickedness has lost his power to obey. Because the flesh "lusts against the Spirit" Galatians 5: Because "every one that does evil hates the light," that is far from justifying them because they "loved darkness" John 3: It is because men do not make a right use of their faculties that they are justly condemned.
The soul in an unsanctified person is not dead, but is a living and acting principle; and therefore it is able to understand, desire, will, reason, and improve its opportunities, or redeem the time. Though the natural man is unable to work grace in his own heart, yet he is able to attend and wait upon the means of grace. An unsanctified person may as well go to hear a sermon as attend a theater: In the day of judgment unsanctified persons will be damned not for cannots, but for will not:. Men complain that they cannot purify themselves, that they cannot cease from sin, that they cannot repent, that they cannot believe in Christ, that they cannot live a holy life.
But if only they were honest, if they were duly humbled, if they sincerely grieved over the awful hold which sin has obtained upon them, they would fly to the throne of grace, they would cry unto God day and night for Him to break the chains which bind them, deliver them from the power of Satan and translate them into the kingdom of His dear Son. If they were but sincere in their complaint of inability, they would go to God and beg Him to sprinkle clean water upon them, put His Spirit within them, and give them a new heart, so that they might walk in His statutes and keep His judgments Ezekiel And it is just because they will not, that their blood justly lies upon their own heads.
Outward separation from that which is evil and polluting is not sufficient: The Divine law not only prohibits stealing, but also insists "You shall not covet," which is a lusting of our souls rather than an external act. Holiness of nature is required by the law, for how else shall a man love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself? God is essentially holy by nature, and nothing can be so contrary to Him as an unholy nature.
Nothing can be so contrary as opposite natures. How can a wolf and a lamb, or vulture and a dove, dwell together?
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How, then, is this mystery cleared up? By what method, or in what way, have the sanctified become blessed with a nature which makes them meet for the ineffable presence of God? By what process does the evil tree become good, so that its fruit is wholesome and acceptable? Obviously, we cannot here supply the full answer to these questions, or we should be anticipating too much that we desire to bring out in later chapters.
But we will endeavor to now indicate, at least, the direction in which and the lines along which this great mystery is cleared — lines which most assuredly would never have entered our hearts and minds to so much as conceive; but which once they are viewed by anointed eyes, are seen to be Divine and satisfying. The Lord graciously assist us to steer clear of the rocks of error and guide us into the clear and refreshing waters of the truth. As we have shown, it was quite impossible — though it was their bounden duty — for those whom God sanctifies to personally answer the requirements of His holy law: Wherefore, for the satisfaction of the law, which requires absolute purity of nature, it was settled as one of the articles in the Everlasting Covenant, that Christ, the Representative of all who would be sanctified, should be a Man of an untainted and perfectly pure nature, which fully met the requirements of the law: The meeting of that requirement necessitated two things: Let us consider, briefly, each of these separately.
There was a holy nature given to Adam as the Root of mankind, to be kept by him and transmitted to his posterity by natural generation. Upon that ground the law requires all men to be born holy, and pronounces them unclean and "children of wrath" Ephesians 2: But how can this demand be met by those who are born in sin? They cannot enter again into their mother's womb, and be born a second time without sin. Even so, the law will not abate its demand. Wherefore it was provided that Christ, the last Adam, should, as the Representative and Root of His spiritual seed, be born perfectly holy; that whereas they brought a sinful nature into the world with them, He should be born "that holy thing" Luke I: Consequently, in the reckoning of the law all believers are born holy in the last Adam.
They are said to be "circumcised" by the circumcision of Christ Colossians 2: But more was required. It was necessary that the Second Man should preserve His holy nature free from all spot or defilement, as He passed through this world of sin. The law not only demands holiness of nature, but also that the purity and integrity of that nature be preserved.
Wherefore to satisfy this "demand," it was provided that the believers' federal Head should preserve His ineffable purity unstained. The first man did fail: But the Second Man failed not: He preserved the holiness of His nature unstained, even to the end of His life. And so of His sanctified, viewing them in Himself, He declares, "You are all fair, My love; there is no spot in you" Song of 5. But while that completely meets the judicial side, satisfying the demands of the law, something more was yet required to satisfy the heart of God and meet the experimental needs of His people. In view of their being actually defiled in Adam when he sinned, they are defiled in their own persons so that not only is his guilt imputed to them, but his corruption is imparted to them in the nature they have received from him by generation.
Therefore, not only were the elect legally born holy in Christ their Head, but from Him they also receive a holy nature: This is accomplished by that gracious and supernatural working of the third person in the Godhead, whereby the elect are vitally united to their head so that "he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" 1 Corinthians 6: Our being united to Christ, through the Spirit, by faith, makes us partakers of the same spiritual and holy nature with Him, as really and as actually as Eve type of the Church was made of one nature with Adam, being bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.
The believer being one with Christ is made "a new creature," because He is such a Stock as changes the graft into its own nature: The same Spirit which Christ received "without measure" John 3: Being united to Christ by faith, and through the communication of the quickening Spirit from Christ unto him, the believer is thereupon not only justified and reconciled to God, but sanctified, made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, and made an heir of God. At the beginning of the former chapter it was pointed out that in connection with the grand truth of sanctification there is both a mystery and a problem: That which is hidden from the knowledge of the natural man is, why his best works are unacceptable to God.
Tell him that all his actions — no matter how carefully and conscientiously, diligently and devoutly, executed — are rejected by God, and that is something entirely above the reach of his understanding. He knows not that his breaking of the law in Adam has brought in a breach between himself and God, so that while that breach remains, the favor of God cannot flow out of him, nor his prayers or offerings pass in to God. The Lord will no more receive anything at the hands of the natural man than He would have respect unto the offering of Cain Genesis 4.
And had He left all men in their natural estate, this would have held true of the whole race until the end of time. Inasmuch as all men were given a holy nature — created in the image and likeness of God — in their representative and root, to be transmitted to them by him, before the law was given to Adam, it follows that the law requires a holy nature from each of us, and pronounces a curse wherever it finds the opposite.
Though we are actually born into this world in a state of corruption and filth Ezekiel In consequence of the sin which indwells us — which is so much a part and parcel of ourselves that everything we do is defiled thereby — we are thoroughly unable to render unto the law that obedience which it requires; for while we are alienated from the life of God, it is impossible that any outward acts of compliance with the law's statutes can proceed from those principles which it alone can approve of, namely, unselfish love and faith sincere.
Consequently, the state of the natural man, considered in himself, is entirely beyond hope. The provision made by the manifold wisdom and sovereign grace of God to meet the desperate needs of His people was stipulated for in terms of the Everlasting Covenant. There it was agreed upon by the Eternal Three that the Mediator should be the Son of man, yet, that His humanity should be not only entirely free from every taint of original sin, but should be purer than that of Adam's even when his Creator pronounced him "very good. Inasmuch as Christ, the God-man Mediator, entered this world not as a private Person, but as a public, as the Representative and Head of God's elect, in the reckoning of the law they were born holy in their Surety and Sponsor, and so fully measure up to its requirements.
Christ and His mystical body have never been viewed apart by the law. But this, unspeakably blessed though it be, was not all. A perfect legal standing only met half of the need of God's elect: This also has been provided for by the measureless love of the God of all grace. He so ordered that, just as the guilt of Adam was imputed to all for whom He acted, so the righteousness of Christ should be imputed to all for whom He transacted: As they received a sinful and impure nature from their natural head, so the sanctified receive a sinless and pure nature from their spiritual Head.
Consequently, as they have borne the image of the earthy, so they shall bear the image of the heavenly. Some of our readers may, perhaps, conclude that all difficulty in connection with this aspect of our subject has now been of, but a little reflection on the part of the believer soon remind him that the most perplexing point of all has yet to be cleared up. Though it be true that every essential requirement of the law has been met for the sanctified by their glorious Head, so that the law righteously views them as holy in Him; and though it be true that at regeneration they receive from Christ, by the Spirit, a new and holy nature, like unto His; yet the old nature remains, and remains unchanged, unimproved.
Yes, to them it seems that the carnal nature in them is steadily growing worse and worse, and more active and defiling every day they live. They are painfully conscious of the jest that sin not only remains in them, but that it pollutes their desires, thoughts, imaginations, and acts; and to prevent its uprisings they are quite powerless. This presents to an honest heart and a sensitive conscience a problem which is most acute, for how can those who abhor themselves be pleasing unto the thrice holy One?
How can those conscious of their filthiness and vileness possibly be fit to draw near unto Him who is ineffably and infinitely pure? The answer which some have returned to this agonized inquiry based upon an erroneous deduction from the words of Paul "it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me": To say it is not the regenerate person, but only the flesh in him, which sins, is to invent a distinction which repudiates the Christian's responsibility and which affords no relief to a quickened conscience.
Scripture is far too plain on this point to justify a mistake: Old and New Testament alike insist it is the person who sins — "against You. Paul himself concludes Romans 7 by saying, "O wretched man that I am! Where other matters are concerned, men have more sense than to fall back upon such a distinction as some modern theologians are so fond of insisting upon: Imagine one before a judge, who was charged with theft, acknowledging his offence, but disowning all responsibility and culpability on the ground that it was his "evil nature" and not himself which did the stealing!
Surely the judge would be in a quandary to decide whether prison or the madhouse was the right place to send him. This reminds us of an incident wherein a "Bishop" was guilty of blasphemy in the House of Lords where all "Bishops" have seats. Being rebuked by his manservant, he replied, "It was the 'lord' and not the 'bishop' who cursed.
Somewhere else, then, than in any supposed distinction between the sanctified person and his old nature, must the solution to our problem be sought. When one who has been walking with God is tripped up by some temptation and falls, into sin, or when indwelling corruption surges up and for the time being obtains the mastery over him, he is painfully aware of the fact; and that which exercises him the most is not only that he has sinned against the One who is nearer and dearer to him than all else, but that his communion with Him is broken, and that he is no longer morally fit to come into His sacred presence.
While his knowledge of the Gospel may be sufficient to allay any haunting fears of the penal consequences of his sins, yet this does not remove the defilement from his conscience. This is one important respect in which the unregenerate and regenerate differ radically: There are two things in sin, inseparably connected and yet clearly distinguishable, namely, its criminality and its pollution.
The pollution of sin is that property of it whereby it is directly opposed unto the holiness of God, and which God expresses His holiness to be contrary unto. Therefore it is said, He is "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and can not look on evil" Habakkuk 1: Hence does He use that pathetic entreaty, "Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate" Jeremiah It is with respect unto His own holiness that God sets forth sin by the names of everything which is offensive, objectionable, repulsive, abominable.
Consequently, when the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, He imparts such a sight and sense of the filth of sin, that sinners blush, are ashamed, are filled with confusion of face, are abased in their own esteem, and abashed before God. As we are taught the guilt of sin by our own fear, which is the inseparable adjunct of it, so we are taught the filth of sin by our own shame, which unavoidably attends it.
Under the typical economy God not only appointed sacrifices to make atonement for the guilt of sin, but also gave various ordinances for purification or ceremonial cleansing from the pollution thereof. In various ways, during Old Testament times, God instructed His people concerning the spiritual defilement of sin: All of them prefigured internal and spiritual pollution, and hence the whole work of sanctification is expressed by "a fountain opened…for sin and for impurity" Zechariah So inseparable is moral pollution from sin, and a sense of shame from a consciousness of the pollution, that whenever a soul is truly convicted of sin, there is always a painful sense of this filthiness, accompanied by personal shame.
Only as this is clearly apprehended, are we able to understand the true nature of sanctification. The spiritual loveliness of the soul consists in its conformity to God. Therefore, that which is contrary to the image of God — depravity, contrary to grace — sin, has in it a deformity which mars the soul, destroys its loveliness, disrupts its order, and brings deformity, ugliness, vileness. Whatever is contrary to holiness or the image of God on the soul, is base, unworthy, filthy. Sin dishonors and degrades the soul, filling it with shame.
The closer we are permitted to walk with God and the more we see ourselves in His light, the more conscious are we of the deformity of sin and of our baseness. When our eyes were first opened to see our spiritual nakedness, how hideous did we appear unto ourselves, and what a sense of our pollution we had! That was but the reflex of God's view, for He abhors, loathes, and esteems as an abominable thing whatever is contrary to His holiness.
Those who are made "partakers of the Divine nature" 2 Peter 1: The last four paragraphs are, in part, a condensation from John Owen; and from them we may clearly perceive that it is they who are truly sanctified and holy, who are the most deeply sensible of the root of corruption which still remains within them, and which is ever springing up and producing that which defiles them; and therefore do they greatly bewail their pollutions, as that which is most dishonoring to God and most disturbing to their own peace; and earnestly do they endeavor after the mortification of it. A remarkable corroboration is found in the fact that the most godly and holy have been the very ones who most strongly affirmed their sinfulness and most loudly bewailed the same.
It was one whom God Himself declared to be a "perfect sincere and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil" Job 1: It was one "greatly beloved" of God Daniel It was he who was caught up to the third Heaven and then returned again to earth who moaned, "O wretched man that I am! From the quotations just made from the personal confessions of some of the most eminent of God's saints, it is perfectly plain to any simple soul that a "pure heart" cannot signify one from which all sin has been removed, nor can their language possibly be made to square with the utopian theory that the carnal nature is eradicated from any believer in this life.
Indeed it cannot; and none but they who are completely blinded by Satan would ever affirm such a gross absurdity and palpable lie. But this requires us now to define and describe what a "pure heart" consists of, according to the scriptural meaning thereof. And in our efforts to supply this, we shall have to try and guard against two evils: First, a "pure heart" is one which has experienced "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" Titus 3: That takes place at the new birth, and is maintained by the Spirit throughout the Christian's life.
All that this involves we cannot now state at any length. But, negatively, it includes the purifying of the believer's understanding, so that it is no longer fatally blinded by Satan, but is supernaturally illumined by the Spirit: The mind is, in great measure, freed from the pollution of error, and this, by the shining in of the light of God's truth. It includes, negatively, the cleansing of the affections, so that sin is no longer loved but loathed, and God is no longer shrunk from and avoided, but sought after and desired.
From the positive side, there is communicated to the soul at regeneration a nature or principle which contains within itself pure desires, pure intentions, and pure roots of actions. The fear of God is implanted, and the love of God is shed abroad in the heart. In consequence thereof, the soul is made to pant after God, yearn for conformity to His will, and seeks to please Him in all things. And hence it is that the greatest grief of the Christian arises from the hindering of his spiritual longings and the thwarting of his spiritual aspirations. A pure heart is one that loathes impurity, and whose heaviest burden is the realization that such an ocean of foul waters still indwells him, constantly casting up their mire and dirt, polluting all he does.
A "pure heart," therefore, is one which makes conscience of foolish, vile imaginations, and evil desires. It is one which grieves over pride and discontent, mourns over unbelief, and enmity, weeps in secret over unholiness. Second, a "pure heart" is one which has been "sprinkled from an evil conscience" Hebrews An "evil conscience" is one which accuses of guilt and oppresses because of unpardoned sin.
Its possessor dreads the prospect of the day of judgment, and seeks to banish all thoughts of it from his mind. But a conscience to which the Spirit has graciously applied the atoning blood of Christ obtains peace of mind, and has confidence to draw near unto God: Hence, also, third, we read "purifying their hearts by faith" Acts As unbelief is a principle which defiles, so faith is a principle which purges, and that, because of the object which it lays hold of.
Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God
Faith looks away from self to Christ, and is enabled to realize that His blood "cleanses us from all sin" 1 John 1: Every Christian, then, has a "pure" heart in the particulars given above. But every Christian does not have a "clean" heart Psalm That which pollutes the heart of a Christian is unjudged sin. Whenever sin is allowed by us, communion with God is broken, and pollution can only be removed, and communion restored, by genuine repentance — a condemning of ourselves, a mourning over the sin, and unsparing confession of the same, accompanied by a fervent desire and sincere resolution not to be overtaken by it again.
The willing allowance and indulgence of any known sin cannot exist with a clean heart. Rightly, then, did John Owen say of repentance: In this chapter in two sections we have sought to answer the questions at the close of the fifth chapter. We have met every demand of the law in the person of our Surety. We are made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, because all the value of Christ's cleansing blood is reckoned to our account. We are capacitated to draw near unto God now, because the Holy Spirit has communicated to us the very nature of Christ Himself.
- Chapter 3 - Holiness by John Charles Ryle!
- LAbécédaire de la Rome Ancienne (French Edition);
- Saints on Earth: A Biographical Companion to Common Worship (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England).
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By faith we may regard ourselves as holy in Christ. That heart will never be free from imperfection in this world, and it is a miserable delusion to expect it to be. There is need of a daily struggle and a daily wrestling in prayer Rom 8: True Christianity is a struggle, a fight, a warfare. Where there is grace there will be conflict — there is no holiness without warfare.
Furthermore, we must fight till we die. Do we find in our heart of hearts a spiritual struggle? Do we feel anything of the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh? Are we conscious of two principles within us, contending for the mastery? Well, let us thank God for it! It is a good sign! Faith is the hinge on which victory turns; success depends entirely on believing. The Christian is what he is, does what he does, thinks as he thinks, acts as he acts, hopes as he hopes, and behaves as he behaves, for one simple reason — he believes the propositions revealed in the Word.
Faith is the very backbone of spiritual existence. There is no such thing as right living with- out faith and believing. He who has the most faith will always be the happiest and most comfortable soldier. The more faith, the more victory… the more faith, the more inward peace. Little by little their zeal melts away, and their love becomes cold — why? They had never counted the cost. When they find, after a time, that there is a cross to be carried, that our hearts are deceitful, and that there is a busy devil always near us, they cool down in disgust — why?
What does it cost the believer to be a real Christian? Consider the following —. He must be willing to give up all trust in his own morality, respectability, praying, Bible knowledge, church going, and trust in nothing but Christ.
He must set his face against it, quarrel with it, break off from it, fight with it, crucify it. He must count all sins as deadly enemies, and hate every false way; all sins must be thoroughly renounced. They may struggle hard with him every day, and sometimes almost get mastery over him, but he must never give way to them.
He must keep up a perpetual war with his sins until he dies. To part with sin is as hard as cutting off a right hand, or plucking out a right eye — but it must be done. He and sin must quarrel and battle, if he and God are to be friends. He must count it no strange thing to be mocked, ridiculed, persecuted, and even hated, to be thought by many a fool and a fanatic. Remember,the servant is not greater than his Master. We naturally dislike unjust dealing and false charges.
The cup that our Master drank must be drunk by His disciples as well. Growth in grace is an essential part of true holiness — it is intimately and inseparably connected with the whole question of sanctification, spiritual health, and spiritual happiness. He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart, and he manifests more of it in his life. Increased humility — The man whose soul is growing feels his own sinfulness and unworthiness more every year. Increased faith and love toward Christ — The man whose soul is growing finds more in Christ to rest upon, and rejoices more that he has such a Savior.
As he grows in grace, he discovers a suitableness in Christ to the wants of his soul. Increased holiness of life and conversation — The man whose soul is growing gets more dominion over sin, the world, and the devil every year. He becomes more careful about his temper, his words, and his actions. He strives more to be conformed to the image of Christ in all things. Increased spirituality of taste and mind — The man whose soul is growing takes more interest in spiritual things; the things he loves best are spiritual things; and the ways and recreations of the world have a continually decreasing place in his heart.
Spiritual companions, spiritual occupations, spiritual conversation, appear of ever-increasing value to him. Increase of charity — The man whose soul is growing is more full of love every year—especially his love for the brethren, a growing disposition to do kindnesses, to be generous, sympathizing, tenderhearted, and considerate. Those who are growing in grace and getting closer to Christ, are laying hold on Him with confidence, as a loving, personal Friend.
Many who are growing in grace are unaware of it — like Moses, when he came down from the mountain — their faces shine, yet they are not aware of it Ex Also, if we know anything of growth in grace, and desire to know more, let us not be surprised if we have to go through much trial and affliction in this world. I firmly believe it is the experience of nearly all the most eminent saints. When days of darkness come upon us, let us not count it a strange thing; rather, let us remember that lessons are learned on such days that would never have been learned in sunshine.
Care not that we are about to perish? We are all subject to vexations and disappointments. How would the great work of sanctification go on in a man if he had no trial?